


Practice Makes Purrfect

by dazebras



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Homework, Kissing, MLSS2017, Marichat, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 14:31:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13033158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dazebras/pseuds/dazebras
Summary: Cat Noir has been helping Marinette with her physics homework for weeks now.  She still doesn't know much about her partner's personal life or how often he interacts with people outside of her own alter ego, but she'll take the opportunity to find out.





	Practice Makes Purrfect

**Author's Note:**

  * For [missdeearts on tumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=missdeearts+on+tumblr).



> And ya'll said Ladrien was the blushing ship.
> 
> Thanks to Bowser14456 for the title pun!

"So the kinetic energy of the rabbit is two joules?" Marinette scratched at her cheek with her pencil as she waited for Cat Noir to check over her work.

After an akuma had rampaged down her street, Cat had taken it upon himself to check in on all the residents in the affected area. She'd just managed to transform back into her civilian self and settle in to pretend at doing her homework when her parents poked their heads in. He'd pushed past them to look in on her personally and caught her struggling with her class's most recent physics assignment. After she mentioned that she had an upcoming test, Cat dropped by her window the next evening, causing her to knock over her dress form, a bowl of safely pins, and glass of water which only narrowly missed her sketchbook. He'd apologized and offered to help her study, which is how she came to be sneaking Cat Noir into her bedroom several nights a week. Luckily, her parents were used to her “talking to herself” when she spoke to Tikki, so they didn't mention it if they could hear voices through the floor.

Tonight, they sat with books and papers spread between them on top of the trapdoor leading up to her room to keep her parents from walking in on her studying with the masked superhero.

"Nooooo...." Cat frowned at her calculations for a moment. Then, he smiled and pointed at a particular line. "Here's where you went wrong. You forgot to square the eight at the beginning. You have the basic concepts down. It's just a matter of being careful. Don't rush so much."

Marinette grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. It's habit by now. I don't usually get a lot of time to do my homework."

"Oh, yeah! I'm sure it's a lot of work helping with your family's bakery."

That and fighting akuma at the drop of a hat several times a week. If only Hawkmoth could be more respectful of her school schedule. Surely Cat had the same problem, even if she didn't know for sure that he was still in school.

"How do you do it, Cat?"

"Do what? Calculate kinetic energy?"

Marinette giggled and rolled her eyes. "No, silly cat. How do you balance all your responsibilities and still have time to have fun?"

Cat shrugged and leaned back on one hand, absently tracing the swirls of the floor's wood grain with a claw as he refused to meet her eyes. "Oh, you know. I've got my schedule pretty well laid out. I go to school, my part time job, my superhero job. I... don't really have a whole lot of time for friends."

Her heart clenched at this admission. Cat was a wonderful friend – her very best friend. He was so sociable and loving. How could he stand not being around people? "But you've been coming here to help me study for my school's exam almost every night for the last two weeks. And you get to see Ladybug, right?"

He brightened up at the mention of her superhero alias. Really it was kind of funny how dopey it was. Although, she was embarrassed to admit that it was probably much like the faces she made when she thought of Adrien.

"Yeah! That's the best thing about being Cat Noir. I mean, don't get me wrong. Saving people is great, and I'm really glad I can help keep Paris safe. But getting to hang out with My Lady is something else."

Marinette could feel the blood rush to her cheeks at the praise. She bent her head and started to collect up their papers and books in order to try and hide the flush staining her cheeks crimson. "What, ah, what is she like?"

As she stood and took the books over to her desk, Cat sighed dramatically and flopped back on the floor, stretching his arms far above his head. "Ladybug's the cat's meow. She's the smartest person I know. And the bravest. She never gives up. I know I can always trust her to save the day. She's my best friend, and the most beautiful girl I've ever met.

“And,” he continued, “I'm in love with her. But I can tell she doesn't feel the same way, even if she lets me flirt with her."

Marinette dropped her books with a dull _thud_ , spilling them across the desk. This is what she got for trying to her Cat talk about her alter ego secretly. She knew already, of course. How could she have missed it? Yet hearing him say it aloud, when he had no idea who was standing next to him, had her heart pounding a desperate rhythm against her ribs.

"How do you know she doesn't feel the same way? Have you told her yet? She might surprise you."

What was she doing?! She was encouraging Cat to go after Ladybug. _She_ was Ladybug! She shouldn't be practically begging another guy to make a move when she had Adrien to think about. That's right, think of Adrien... Sweet, funny, gorgeous Adrien. Who most definitely didn't know she liked him. She clenched her hands around the edge of the desk and squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to get a grip on herself. She was such a hypocrite to tell Cat to go after the woman he loved when should could barely breathe the same air as her crush without getting light-headed.

"I guess it's worth a shot. Maybe she's been waiting for me to show that I'm serious about her." Cat didn't sound all that sure about it, and Marinette was at a loss as to whether that was a good thing or not. "I've tried to show her I'm a real gentleman – not that she needs a knight in shining armor or anything! My Lady's no pushover. But really, I wouldn't even know what to do with a girlfriend. I've never even kissed a girl for real before."

Marinette spun around so fast her pigtail nearly whacked her in the face. "You haven't?"

"What, Princess? Did you think I was some kind of lady's man?"

"Uhhh."

Cat frowned, and Marinette could tell that she had actually hurt her friend. "I'm not. I take a woman's heart seriously. Just because I'm playful doesn't mean that I'm playing around."

"I'm sorry, Cat. You always flirt with me, even though you obviously like Ladybug, so I figured you did the same thing with other girls too," Marinette said as she came back to sit beside him.

"I don't really joke around with a whole lot with girls other than Ladybug. Not a lot of time for charming the pants off of akuma victims."

"I'm a girl." Ugh, she should just glue her foot to her mouth permanently at this point.

Cat looked at her quizzically. "Yes, you are."

"So, you know, you do! Spend time with girls who aren't Ladybug! Girls who aren't Ladybug at all! And are still," she trailed off, before ending pathetically, "girls."

"Princess," Cat grinned at her cheekily. "It sounds almost like you want me to flirt with you."

"No!" Marinette waved her hands rapidly between them in a warding gesture. "No, I'm just saying if you want a chance with Ladybug, you could use the practice is all.

"So," she finished magnanimously, "you may continue, if you must. Or I could help you practice something else instead."

She looked over at her friend to see that his face had turned as red as her costume. She had meant his puns, although she wasn't looking forward to the prospect of having to hear them twice and figured he thought of most of them on the fly anyway. Had he thought she meant something else, or was he just surprise that she would let him flirt with her?

It surprised her too that she wasn't putting a stop to this. If anything, she was flirting back.

There wasn't anything wrong with that. Her heart may belong to Adrien but as far as she could tell, he still barely even noticed her as a friend. It wasn't like she was a taken woman. Not that she was going to do anything... _serious_ with Cat. That would just cause problems all around. But she could stand to practice a little too.

She felt a little thrill run through her as her normally talkative friend seemed struck dumb by his own blush. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"What, ah, did you mean by that, Princess?" Cat fidgeted as though he had a clear idea of what she meant and, as far he was concerned, it wasn't puns.

She traced her way back through their conversation. He had mentioned that he hadn't kissed anyone before. He had, in fact, kissed her. Not that she – Ladybug – had told him about how she knocked him from Dark Cupid's sway.

"What – What did you think that I meant?" she countered, feeling her own face heating up, even as she reminded herself that it was only Cat.

"It sounded... almost like you were – and don't take this the wrong way! I would never make risque presumptions about a lady! It sounded like you were offering to help me practice," he cringed as though expecting a blow, "kissing."

She could barely think straight. The idea of kissing him... He was her friend! It didn't have to mean anything. She'd heard about girls doing this sort of thing with each other at sleepovers and it not meaning they were interested in each other. So she could kiss Cat, and it wouldn't mean she was interested in him that way. They'd just be gaining some experience for when they kissed the person they really liked. The person Cat really liked was Ladybug, was _her_.

“That,” she said, her voice shaking, “is exactly what I meant.”

Cat swallowed audibly. “If you're offering, then I suppose I better if I don't want my Lady to find me uncouth.”

She could hear her blood pounding on her ears, a tempo urging her forward. Marinette curled her fingers into fists on her thighs to keep her hands from shaking as she shuffled forward until her knees knocked with Cat's. She thought briefly to worry about if her parents, overly nosy even when she didn't have guests over, came to check on her. Finding one of Paris's superheroes helping their daughter with her physics homework was one thing, but finding a teenage boy in a leather cat suit kissing said daughter was another.

She swayed closer, caught up in the vivid green of Cat's eyes.

Their lips met in a swift brush of mouths. It was much softer than she remembered their previous kiss being. She had tried to block that instance from her memory; though, her dreams replaced Cat with Adrien as they relentlessly replayed it. That time had been rushed, frantic. Now, it felt as if she and Cat had all the time in the world to explore each other, to learn what they liked, to learn what a partner liked.

She was left unsatisfied by that first peck, but the feel of his breath over her face made something warm uncoil in her belly, and she found herself pressing forward without thought.

One more kiss.

Two.

Three.

She lost herself in the brush of lips against lips and mingled breath. Cat kept the pressure soft, ever the gentleman, even as she sought more. He steadied her with a hand on her shoulder and set the pace with a gentle palm, mindful of his claws, cradling her jaw.

That was fine. Though she hungered for more, they had plenty of time to practice.

**Author's Note:**

> OMAKE
> 
> "Well, thank you, Princess. I suppose I could use you as a sounding board to try out some of my new puns."
> 
> "I always thought you came up with them on the fly."
> 
> "That's mostly true. Most of them are situational. But that one right there would have been great to use against our last akuma. He was a kid who was upset that his brother accidentally smashed his ant colony."
> 
> Marinette remember vividly. It would be a while before she could look at a bug without the ghost sensation of tiny beetle feet crawling over her skin. She shuddered.
> 
> "Aw, c'mon. It wasn't that bad."
> 
> "It was paws-itively atrocious."
> 
> Cat's eyes twinkled in delight. Something heated in her chest at the sight. "There you go, you're getting in the spirit. That's an oldie but a goodie."


End file.
